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Article: Why we need foundational change in how we engage young people with the built environment_Building Design_November 2022

Article: MATT+FIONA picked for latest Kew treehouse commission_Architects Journal_April 2022

Article: Rejuvenation feature Financial Times_February 2022

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📣 New team member! We’re delighted to be join

📣 New team member! We’re delighted to be joined by George Pope 💫

George is our new Programme Coordinator and will be supporting across all M+F programmes & activities, as well as strategy.

He started his career in the publishing sector before joining us, engaging with architecture and the built environment first as a hobby which then turned into a passion. Having volunteered with VSO Cambodia on a youth engagement programme in 2020, he unites these two strands in his work with us.

We’re excited to be working with him, and in typical M+F style, launched him into a build on his second day. He passed with flying colours ☺️

💡 Protobuilding 💡 the design for the young p

💡 Protobuilding 💡 the design for the young people’s performance space @brxhousetheatre 💫🖇️📦✂️🎊
#letsbuild

So happy to be back @brxhousetheatre reigniting #l

So happy to be back @brxhousetheatre reigniting #letsbuild the young people’s performance space we were due to build in April 2020 💥

Yesterday we met the new group of primary school children who will be taking over & making the previous ideas their own, ready to build in March.

Here they are testing out different performances with the structures in various formations.

Brilliant workshop led by @lucyeccles90 and supported by @rosiemurphy.me @georgepope227 and Lauren from @jesticowhiles

Thanks to our industry champions @jesticowhiles @buro_happold and @happoldfoundation for making projects like this happen 🙌

#letsbuild #makespace #performancespace #brixton #brixtonhouse

Young people will inherit the spaces being created

Young people will inherit the spaces being created now, and yet rarely have a say. CONNECT supports local authorities, clients and design teams to ensure young people’s ideas are brought to the table and listened to in meaningful ways

Film by Craig Palmer and Gerry Hughes @buro_happold

#BuildLearnConnect #codesign #listening #meaningfulexchange

LEARN shares the BUILD process with teachers, yout

LEARN shares the BUILD process with teachers, youth workers & built environment professionals, to enable more children and young people to have the opportunity to shape their world.

#BuildLearnConnect #empowerteachers #empoweryoungpeople

🎥 by Craig Palmer & Gerry Hughes @buro_happold

Introducing BUILD, our unique process of asking yo

Introducing BUILD, our unique process of asking young people to set the brief for the places they inhabit, design them, and ultimately build them 👷🏽‍♀️👷🏿‍♂️👷🏼
#build #empoweryoungpeople

Film made by Craig Palmer and Gerry Hughes @buro_happold

Last night we launched #BuildLearnConnect our new

Last night we launched #BuildLearnConnect our new strategy to reach many more young people.

We were privileged to hear from Nida and Fatimah, two incredible young people from the Mayfair Youth Forum, from @carlkonadu at @2_3degrees, Kemi Hassan from @ucl, @athina_stylianidi from @jesticowhiles and Franck Robert @buro_happold. Thank you @francescaperry_ for chairing the wonderful panel.

Huge thanks to our brilliant team @lucyeccles90 @rosiemurphy.me @jess_mulvey Sarah Yates and Claire Curtice for making it happen, and thank you to the Kings Cross Construction Skills Centre for hosting us ✨

Photos by Kes-Tchaas Eccleston

If you add up how many young people have the oppor

If you add up how many young people have the opportunity to learn about their built environment (almost exclusively thanks to grassroots organisations and programmes) it is likely we are only reaching 1% of children in the UK. We think this needs to change. Read our comment piece in today’s @_bdonline_ via the link in our bio.

Solidarity to everyone doing their best to support young people including @placed_ed @beyondtheboxconsultants @opencityaccelerate @poor_collective @resolvecollective @urban_learners @yesmakeldn @build_up_foundation @archimakeorg @ardaghyoungcreatives & many others

Thank you for inviting us Ben Flatman 🙌

What do future places for young people look like i

What do future places for young people look like in Lea Bridge?

We are delighted to be working with local students and Waltham Forest Council to uncover ideas for spaces and places for young people in the area.

See link in bio for more information

#youngpeople #spacesforall #intergenerational #design #publicrealm #codesign

#LREF @nlalondon schools outreach in the @barbican

#LREF @nlalondon schools outreach in the @barbicancentre conservatory exploring spaces for the future of work 🌿📐📦🪴🪷✏️📏

Thank you to the ever creative Grace Simmonds @grsimmo for inviting us to be part of the outreach, and to Sophie Roberts @soph_robs for all her fantastic help. And thanks as ever to our Industry Champions @buro_happold @happoldfoundation & @jesticowhiles and our wonderful team @lucyeccles90 and @rosiemurphy.me

#futureofwork #nextgen #youngpeople

"The idea of what we do seems to capture the imagi

"The idea of what we do seems to capture the imaginations of a lot of educators who work with young people traditionally on the margins, like the young people we work with in Hull who've been excluded from mainstream school. Their teachers saw the impact a project like this could make - how important art and design are in helping to make sense of the world."

We share some thoughts about why young people should be able to shape their built environment in an interview with Isla Sutherland in @architecture_au ahead of our @designspeaks_au talk on 19 October (Australian time but if you’re up early in the U.K. why not join us?!) Link to article and talk in bio

Excited to share that the Phoenix Playground Struc

Excited to share that the Phoenix Playground Structure - designed and built by young people with autism for their school with their wonderful teachers @amandabensonstudio and Paula Farley - is a finalist in the @realplaycoalition Real Play City Challenge! Grateful to be on a shortlist with some amazing projects.
Holding space for genuine youth empowerment, co-design and co-fabrication is never easy so awards like this mean a huge amount. It also always inspires us to see what else is happening in this world and to take huge energy from the momentum building 💥
Thank you to everyone involved in this project pre pandemic, not least the project managers Alex Taylor @alex.taylor.archi Kate Slattery @keslatts and Milly Wood @millykwood and all the incredible volunteers

📣 Our tiny & brilliant team is growing 📣 A

📣 Our tiny & brilliant team is growing 📣

Are you interested in supporting young people to shape their worlds? We are recruiting a Programme Coordinator to support across our portfolio of projects, Build Learn & Connect. Full information can be found on our website. Follow the News & Media link in our bio. Closing date is midnight 3rd October. Please help us spread the word 🙏 #recruiting #growingteam #joinus

Does a space for young people at Windermere need t

Does a space for young people at Windermere need to move & roll, and go where it’s most needed on that day? ➡️↘️↙️⬅️🔄

@lakeland_arts @windermerejetty

Or maybe the roof of the place for young people wi

Or maybe the roof of the place for young people will be able to open up for stargazing and cloud watching?

Introducing ASTRO - the Advanced Sleeping Tent Research Observatory ⛺️🌌

@lakeland_arts @windermerejetty

Would a place for young people float on the lake?

Would a place for young people float on the lake?

One group of 12-13 year olds created WFC (Windermere Fried Chicken) - a roving, viewing platform that also serves the best fried chicken around ⛵️🔴🍗

@lakeland_arts @windermerejetty

LAUNCH: Lake Create & Make A 2 day build with a gr

LAUNCH: Lake Create & Make
A 2 day build with a group of brilliant young people at Queen Katherine School to propose new spaces for young people to access Windermere, initiated by @lakeland_arts and @windermerejetty

The build has been the culmination of months of collaboration & workshops, gradually building up in scale from drawings to models to the protobuild with the young people. The inspired learning team @lakeland_arts - @iread_40 and @roisinmclinden - recognise that there are relatively few opportunities for local young people to access and enjoy Windermere. They are looking to change that, and recognise that young people should be at the heart of that change.

Huge thanks to our talented team @lucyeccles90 and @rosiemurphy.me and volunteers from our Engineering Industry Champions @buro_happold plus the boat conservation team @windermerejetty

Still such a novelty to be building together again after the pandemic 🔨🪚🍃💛

Murmuration - an installation made collectively by

Murmuration - an installation made collectively by 200 school children at Phoenix School in Bow today.

Over the last two weeks, each child has made an invention - an object, bird, fish or other - that could become part of the murmuration. Today the children brought the 200 pieces together to make a joyful hanging installation, which represents every voice in the school.

It was lovely to be back at Phoenix School with @amandabensonstudio 4 years on from creating the ‘Spaces for Belonging’ playground structure. The school supports young people with autism and art & design is at the heart of their approach.

Huge thanks to our brilliant project manager @jess_mulvey and to Irmak Kuzu for supporting the school workshops and Ayesha Khan for supporting today’s build 🙌 ✨

*Final Spaces at our FREE BUILD* 11 June 10:00-15

*Final Spaces at our FREE BUILD*
11 June 10:00-15:00
ACT-ivate, part of @londonfestivalofarchitecture at @hackney_bridge

What are you up to next weekend? If you’re in or near Hackney Wick why don’t you join us for a FREE BUILD @hackney_bridge. We'll be creating a super scale community of the future. How will we live, move, play?

NB spaces are limited. It’s drop in but pre-booked tickets on eventbrite will be prioritised. If you turn up and it’s full you’ll need to queue or come back later on if it’s quieter. Link to Eventbrite in our bio.

Aimed at 3+ but adults welcome too. All under 16s must be accompanied by a parent or guardian.

We don’t often share the reasons why we set up M

We don’t often share the reasons why we set up MATT+FIONA preferring to focus on the impact of the projects rather than ourselves. But our experiences do explain a lot behind why we do what we do.

Thank you TEDxFrensham for inviting us to tell our story: ‘BUILD LEARN CONNECT: How young people can shape their world’

The talk is now online and can be viewed via the link in our bio, or here: https://youtu.be/8LkQ_xSpj4U

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